Little moments
by OnePirateWolf96
Summary: Or as I like to call it: 5 times people were completely oblivious to Nagi and Vandhams relationship and 1 time everyone found out. Also contais various small pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**So… My first Xenoblade Chronicles X fanfic. I recently got some inspiration to write this and I hope that inspiration will stay with me until I have finished the whole thing. Wish me luck!**

 **Also, I've only played through the game once, it's been a while, and the characters are probably going to be at least somewhat ooc.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think.**

Little moments 1: Paperwork

Irina and Gwin were just about to enter the BLADE headquarters to turn in their latest mission rapport. It was early evening and the sun was slowly sinking toward the horizon. It had been an especially tough mission, but they had succeeded in finding and securing another piece of the lifehold and gotten tree more people to NLA. It was a small victory, but everything counted.

"As soon as this report is turned in, I'm hitting the showers," Gwin complained while poking at his shirt that was drenched in indigen-guts and threatening to stick to his skin.

The Lifehold piece had been surrounded by some insect-like creatures that had taken a fancy to it for some reason and hadn't been very keen on letting them just waltz in and take it. The biggest bug had been just about to attack Gwin when Irina had blasted it and Gwin had been covered in its guts, which he was yet to stop complaining about.

"You could have waited for me to move away before blowing it up" he grumbled to Irina's back, as he was walking right behind her. She had refused to walk next to him because of the smell.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have been standing so close to it" Irina threw back at him, barely bothering to turn her head to look at him. Gwin just grumbled something in response, knowing there would be no winning against her.

As they entered Nagi and Vandham's office the first thing they noticed was the gigantic pile of paperwork on Vandham's desk, and the considerably smaller pile on Nagi's desk. Vandham was bent over his paperwork, cursing quietly to himself, not even lifting his head when Irina knocked on the doorframe to announce themselves and Nagi was the first to notice them.

"Ah, miss Akulov and mr Evans. I take it the mission was a success?" He asked while getting up and making his way over to them. He took in Irina's proud stance and raising an eyebrow at Gwin's slime-covered clothes.

"Yes, sir" Irina reports. "We recovered a piece of the Lifehold, rescued tree people and got rid of some ingen. We were supposed to come here to turn in our report to the commander." She showed him the four-page long report as proof.

"I'm sure it's all right if I take it of your hands" Nagi told her, casting a glance at Vandham while talking. "Vandham is finally doing all the paperwork he let pile up, and interrupting him with more paperwork would probably not be the best motivation to get him to continue" he explains.

"I didn't let it pile up" Vandham grumbled from his seat. "I just had a lot of other things to take care of" He paused long enough to look up and glare at Nagi for a couple of seconds, undoubtly hearing Nagi's quietly mumbled "sure you did", before turning back to his paperwork. That lasted for a whole two seconds before he slammed his hands on the desk and leaned back in his chair "God dammed paperwork! At this rate I won't be done until tomorrow morning!"

It did really seem like it, was the thought of both Irina and Gwin as they took in the pile of unfinished paperwork on the commander's desk which almost reached his shoulder when he was sitting down.

"All right, then" Nagi mumbled to himself, before going over to Vandham's desk and dumping Irina and Gwin's report on top of the pile. Before Vandham had time to do more than open his month to argue, he scooped up about half of the pile, plucked Vandham's pen from his hand and took it all over to his own desk. "You can at least handle those if I help you, right? But only this once, and don't let it pile up like that again" he told Vandham who was just staring at him.

Irina and Gwin were both alternating between staring at Nagi, staring at Vandham and staring at each other with matching 'did that just happen' faces. Vandham recovered quickly from his shock and grinned at Nagi, who had just sat down behind his own desk.

"Couldn't leave me here the entire night, could you Nagi?" he asked.

"Jack, focus" Nagi mumbled in a warning tone. "Maybe I just didn't want to hear you complaining the entire day tomorrow" He looked over at Irina, who had just recomposed herself and Gwin, who was still gaping. "You can go now, miss Akulov and mr Evans. You might want to take an early night and get cleaned up properly."

He picked up a pen and started to focus on the first paper in front of him, which Irina and Gwin took as a que to leave. They had just left the room when they heard Nagi's voice through the not-quite closed door, making them stop to listen.

"Just so you know, you owe me breakfast AND lunch tomorrow, Jack" and they also heard Vandham grumbling a "Yeah, sure" before the door closed.

They waited until they had gotten out and over to the barracks before saying a word to each other.

"That sure was something, huh?" Gwin voiced his thoughts first. Irina glanced at him before replying.

"Yeah. Commander Vandham is lucky Secretary Nagi was willing to help him with his paperwork. He must have been in a good mood." She mused, before heading inside. Even though she was not the one covered in insect guts, she was still looking forward to a hot shower.

"Yeah, I suppose" Gwin muttered to himself, as he was left by himself outside the front door. The feeling of the slime starting to harden on him, he decided it was time for him to head inside as well. Maybe he could still manage to save his clothes if he got them washed right away.

The next morning they went on their next assignment, everything from the previous day forgotten.

Neither of them had noticed Nagi caressing Vandham's hand when grabbing the pen, the teasing tone in Vandham's voice when he asked Nagi if he hadn't wanted to make him stay at work all night, or the fond glances the men had both sent each other once the door had closed.

 **A/N: I like to think Vandham hates doing paperwork, and sometimes just lets it stack while doing something else that's also important, just not paperwork. Nagi on the other hand always has his paperwork done on time, so sometimes he helps Vandham out even though he knows he should let the man do it himself. That's my head-canon and I'm sticking to it unless proven otherwise.**

 **Also, I just noticed today that Nagi is nine years older than Vandham. He looks pretty good for his age. Did I just say a 57-year-old man looks good? Yes, yes I did. Wow…**

 **Also, also, I'm so hyped for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and hopefully many of you guys are as well!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So, here's chapter two. The ooc people are probably even more ooc than they were in the last chapter. Elma is difficult to write… So are Nagi and Vandham… Maybe I'll try writing something where tthey don't have to talk?**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

Little moments 2: Hug (or something)

Elma and Cross were walking through the Commercial District looking for clues for a lost cat. Lin was not with them because she was busy with her Skell-reasearch to find a way to make the flight-modulator work. She claimed she just had to because she was THIS close to making it work. After a bit of asking around, they found out the cat was likely exploring Oblivia. How it got there was a mystery.

They were a bit tight on money and needed to do some small jobs in order to afford some new weapons and gear. This was the third job this day and they were considering stopping for dinner soon. They were currently discussing where they should have said dinner.

"I was thinking we could stop by the Barista Court" Elma suggested. "They have good food and the prizes are not bad either"

"I would like to try out that pizzeria some Ma-non recommended" Cross told her in response.

"Cross, you've already been there at least five times. We're going to the Barista Court-" Elma argued.

Cross huffed and crossed his arms, surrendering to going to the Barista Court. He already knew there was no winning against Elma. Besides, he was very hungry and just wanted to get some food.

He also knew he could go for pizza some other time. Maybe Doug or Gwin or Irina would go with him. He looked around a bit, lost in thought, and his eyes landed on a couple of familiar-looking people.

"Isn't that Vandham and Nagi over there?" he asked Elma, while pointing down the road where the two seemed to be discussing something.

They were both focused on Nagi's comm device, Vandham standing right behind Nagi and pointing at something on the screen while mumbling something in the other man's ear. Nagi seemed to consider whatever Vandham said before shaking his head and mumbling something back. He then turned to the right and started walking, right toward Elma and Cross, still completely absorbed in his comm device, Vandham following close behind.

"Wonder what they are doing here?" Cross asked Elma, since he usually didn't see either of the two anywhere other than BLADE tower or the barracks.

"Hmmm" Elma thought out loud. "Probably something work-related. I have known them both to be completely focused on work, even on breaks and their time of." She turned slightly to Cross with a small smile. "We're very lucky to have those two. They work well together and are always focused on the people and NLA."

By now Nagi and Vandham had almost reached them, still so absorbed in their conversation they failed to notice Elma and Cross even though they was only a sidewalk separating them now. Now they could also hear bits of their conversation.

"Seems that you're right" Nagi said to Vandham, still staring intently at his comm. "There doesn't seem to be a sushi restaurant in NLA." He seemed rather disappointed by his discovery, while Vandham just rolled his eyes at him.

"Yeah, and if you'd just listened to me when I said it, you wouldn't have spent so much time trying to find one."

"Hello Commander, Mr. Secretary!" Elma felt the need to announce their presence to the two men. Nagi startled uncharacteristically, tripped on the sidewalk and would have fallen face first into said sidewalk had Vandham not caught him around the waist.

"Ah, hello Elma. Cross." Nagi greeted them after catching his footing. "What brings you two out here? Miss Koo is not with you either, I see?"

"Just another mission, Sir" Elma answered for them. "And Lin is working on the flight module, so she'll be staying in NLA for a few days at least. She says she's just about figured it out. We were just about to grab dinner before continuing to Oblivia." She looked at them for a moment before wondering "If you don't mind me asking, what are you two doing here? Are you taking a break?"

"Something like that" Vandham was the one to answer for them. "We were supposed to grab some grub, but Nagi is all miffed there's no sushi place in the city." He clapped Nagi on the shoulder, making the man glare at him, but made no effort to remove said hand from his shoulder.

"I can only hope that one of the next developments to the Commercial District includes a sushi restaurant" Nagi muttered. He then straightened out and looked back at Elma and Cross "We'll see the two of you later, then. Good luck with your mission." They both started to leave.

"Thank you, Sir. Bye" Elma answered him and Cross waved his hand slightly, even though they already had left.

"What was that all about?" He quietly asked Elma, even though Nagi and Vandham were both out of earshot. She looked somewhat thoughtful before answering him.

"Well, as you know NLA isn't even close to being finished. It's still under construction and development" she waited for him to nod before continuing "And Secretary Nagi is very interested in the development and usually spends his free time here, seeing everything new that has come up."

Cross tilted his head to the side asking quietly 'and Vandham?' Luckily Elma was used to reading his non-verbal questions and answered that, too. "Vandham and Nagi seem like very different kinds of people, but they work amazingly well together." Her tone told him not to ask more questions and focus on getting some food and getting to the mission.

"All right, then. Let's get some food, and go get that cat."

Cross was somewhat confused once he noticed how Vandham's arm had never left Nagi's waist, but then again, he didn't really know these people too well. Besides, Elma didn't seem to find it strange, so he decided it was probably normal behavior for them.

 **A/N: In case anyone is wondering, my Cross has** **shoulder-length black and red hair, bright green eyes and a small scar under his right eye. No, he has short red hair, red eyes and no scars. No, now he has messy green hair, a tribal tattoo on the side of his face and purple eyes.** **And currently he has Red and purple hair, green eyes and a big scar across his face. Probably going to change within a week or so.**

 **Also, I like to think that Vandham is mostly the one making contact in the relationship, like an arm around the waist or a hand on the shoulder or a hug or just holding hands, but Nagi really likes it. Another one of my head-canons, in other words.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3, here we go! It's Valentine's Day!**

 **Please review and let me know what you think!**

Little moments 3: Little gifts

Hope only had to walk from the Cathedral to the park to notice all the flowers, hearts and other decorations associated with Valentine's Day. Everything was already all set up all over the Residential District, and probably the rest of NLA as well.

Everywhere around her, people were running around making last minute purchases or preparations and couples who were staring so deeply into each other's eyes, they were obvious to the world around them.

She had almost completely forgotten about it, as she had been so busy with BLADE jobs.

As she was heading to the park she noticed Celica, who also seemed to be heading toward the park. Hope couldn't say she knew the other girl very well, but they had worked together with Cross on a few missions and she knew Celica to be a very gentle and lovely, if a bit serious, young woman.

"Good morning, Celica!" Hope decided to greet her, thinking she might want to talk or needed help with something, judging by the slightly lost look on her face and the slightly drooping ears. Which perked up as soon as she saw Hope.

"Good morning, Hope" Celica greeted her as she made her way over. "I was actually looking for you!"

"You were? Do you need something?" As far as Hope knew, Celica was the type of person to figure things out without help, though she guessed it was somewhat of an instinct from when she was running from the Ganglion and couldn't really trust people.

"Well, I just wanted to ask you something, nothing all that important" Celica mumbled quietly, as though not wanting to bother Hope if she was busy.

"All right, why don't we go to the park?" Hope suggested. "It will be nicer to talk there than in the middle of the street." Celica agreed and the two of them made their way to the park. They decided to sit down on the grass under the shade of a three, because even though it was just morning, it was already quite sunny and warm.

"So, what was it you were wondering about?" Hope asked, as Celica didn't seem to remember why they were there.

"Yes, right" she starts. "I was wondering what is so special about this day. All morning I've seen people give each other gifts and hugs and kisses, and there are hearts and flowers and things everywhere." She paused slightly but Hope didn't say anything, sensing there was more coming.

"I have figured out it's some kind of special day for humans, and it's called Valentine's Day but I don't understand the purpose of this day, and what it's all about. I was wondering if you could tell me about it?"

"Well," Hope started "it's a day for remembering friends and loved ones, and telling how important, and loved they are by giving them gifts and hugs and such. Or simply a card, if you like." It was probably the simplest way she could explain it. Celica took a few minutes to think it over.

"That seems nice" Celica seemed to be thinking out loud. "Do you think I can participate, even though I'm not human?" Her ears matched her tone, one pointing up, and the other one crooked slightly to the side. It reminded Hope of a puppy wondering if it was doing something good.

"Of course you can" Hope reassured her. "Many Nopon and Ma-non are getting into the spirit, so there's no reason you couldn't. I assume you are thinking about Rock? He's your friend, right?"

"Yes, he is" Celica nodded, plucking some grass. "He's so happy with his job and is working so hard, so I want to get him something really nice" she looked at the grass in her hand, frowning slightly. "I'm just not sure what to get him…"

"Well" Hope dug for something in her pockets while talking "before that, I'd like to give you this" She held out a small box containing a comm device. "I knew you didn't have one yet, and they're important for all BLADEs" she also handed Celica a chocolate bar "I also hope you like chocolate. Happy Valentine's day!"

"Thank you very much" Celica looked amazed at being handed these things, both ears now angled slightly forward, eager to see what she was given. "It's very nice of you."

"Don't worry about it" Hope told her with a smile as she got up and offered Celica her hand. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are" Celica smiled happily as she accepted Hope's hand. As soon as got up she held up her hand in a 'just a moment' gesture while taking of one of her many bracelets. She then handed said bracelet to Hope. "Here, this is my gift to you"

Hope took the bracelet, feeling a bit surprised. It had a light golden colour and some very delicate details. In other words, it looked very beautiful and very expensive.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly. She usually turned down any sort of payment, but turning down a gift would be rather rude, wouldn't it?

"Yes, I'm sure" Celica reached over to close Hopes fingers around the bracelet and pushed it closer to her. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are" it was Hope's turn to say. "Thank you" She suddenly got an idea. "Hey, why don't I help you look for a present for Rock? I'm sure we can come up with something together." She could see Celica's eyes gleaming with happiness.

"That's a wonderful idea! Thank you so much!" She took a few moments to compose herself before continuing with a calmer tone "We should probably head over to the Commercial district, right?"

"Yes, we should" Hope agreed and turned to leave. She thought she saw someone in the corner of her eye and turned to look to the centre of the park. She was rather surprised to see Commander Vandham and Secretary Nagi sitting on one of the benches, apparently in the middle of a discussion.

"Wonder what they're doing here?" Celica wondered, having also noticed them.

"I do hope it's not job related." Hope commented "They spend so much time working, they really deserve a break. Especially today, of all days."

Celica's ears twitched curiously, like she was trying to hear what the two men were talking about.

"I don't think they're talking about work." Celica looked so focused and even leaned forward slightly to catch even a bit of the conversation going on. While they were wondering, Vandham pulled out what looked like a wadded up piece of paper which he handed to Nagi, talking animatedly while doing so.

"I think they're talking about dinner?" Celica finally declared. As she said that, her stomach suddenly growled loudly. "Speaking of dinner, why don't we grab something to eat before going shopping?"

"Yes, sounds like a good idea" Hope agreed. "Can't go shopping on an empty stomach" she laughed and grabbed Celica's hand, dragging her toward the Commercial District. "Do you want to get pizza, burgers or hot dogs? I also heard a new sushi place just opened, we could give that a try?"

Mere moments after the girls turned around and rushed of, Nagi pulled Vandham into a hug and a quick kiss.

 **A/N: Soo… I can't decide if I ship Hope and Celica, or if I just like them as friends. Let's go with friends, yeah? They might also be somewhat ooc, probably because I haven't finished all of their affinity missions. (Because grinding for affinity takes forever in this game…)**

 **I like to think Celica's ears react and move according to her emotions, like a cat's or something. She could probably also have a better hearing than humans with ears like that. She's just really cute.**

 **Also, I'm not very familiar with romantic Valentine's Days, because in Finland it's called "** **ystävänpäivä** **" and it's more about friendship than romance. I know Valentine's Day in like, America, involves a lot of pink and chocolate and hearts and flowers, so that's what I went with. Or tried to.**

 **Anyway, happy Valentine's Day, people!**


	4. Chapter 4

**So…More Valentine's Day! Even though it's not Valentine's Day anymore… Close enough!**

 **Please review and tell me!**

Little moments 4: Dinner together

"Linly, why can Tatsu no eat Linly's cooking today?" Tatsu asked for what felt like the fiftieth time that evening, but was more like the fifth.

"Because," Lin replied tiredly, "Elma and Cross wanted to have a nice Valentine's dinner together, so we're eating out today."

Lin and Tatsu were strolling through the Commercial District, looking for a good place to eat dinner. Being Valentine's Day, pretty much every place was full, fully booked or overly romantic, none of which appealed to the two. Tatsu was just getting hungrier and hungrier and Lin was almost wondering if he would just eat dirt if they didn't find somewhere to eat.

"Why everyone eating out today?" Tatsu also didn't seem to get the idea of Valentine's Day. People had tried to explain to him at least three times, but he either didn't listen, or just didn't get it. "And why everyone act so strange?"

"Because it's Valentine's Day" Lin tried to explain to him, again, hoping he would actually listen this time.

"Vanilla day?" Tatsu asked, looking extremely confused. "People act strange for vanilla?"

"Not Vanilla day, Valentine's Day! It's a day people spend with their loved ones or friends, letting them know how special they are, and going out for dinner is what pretty much everyone do." Lin was really hoping the Nopon would get it this time, so she wouldn't have to explain it again.

"Oh?" Tatsu took a few moments to ponder this (not) new information. "So Elma and Cross special friends, because Tatsu and Linly not invited to dinner?"

"Yeah, something like that" Lin really hoped Tatsu understood what he was talking about. "Now we'll just have to find somewhere to eat tonight. Or just get some takeout. Elma even gave us some extra credits so we could afford some good food." She smiled, holding up some 2000 credits to prove her word.

"Yes, Tatsu and Linly get good food tonight!" Tatsu happily started hopping around while flapping his wings. "And Linly got money to pay for much food! Tatsu happy!"

"Yeah… We just have to find somewhere we can get some food" Lin reminded him.

"Tatsu expert at finding food! Tatsu find food for Linly and Tatsu!" the Nopon declared proudly, looking around as if expecting a restaurant to pop in out of nowhere.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's just get some food. There's got to be somewhere we can get something…" They had already checked out the Barista Court, which was completely full and didn't give takeout. The second place they went to was the pizzeria, which was overrun by Ma-non. The last place they had checked was a small café', which was just closed. They hadn't even bothered with most restaurants, since they were more than obviously fully booked.

"We could check out that new sushi place! I saw they offer takeout, so we can probably get something even if it's fully booked." Lin suddenly remembered seeing the advertisements she had seen around NLA. She hadn't had sushi in a while, so it seemed like a good idea.

"What sushi?" Tatsu asked, looking all confused.

"Well, it's got fish and rice, and it's really good" She explained to the Nopon, who she knew wouldn't turn down food even if she told him it was bugs and twigs. Tatsu really would eat just about anything.

"Sushi sound good. Tatsu say get sushi" Tatsu declared, like it was his idea to go to the sushi place.

"Yeah, come on then, small fry" Lin was already on her way to the place, vaguely remembering seeing it earlier that week.

"H-Hey, wait for Tatsu! Linly, no leave Tatsu behind!" Tatsu was rushing to catch up to Lin with his short legs, flapping around wildly as he went.

Soon they reached the sushi restaurant, which was a rather impressive-looking place. Not overly large, but seemingly comfortable judging by the look of the people sitting inside. There was a nice Valentine's theme with some hearts and flower decorations. The restaurant was fully packed with people, meaning the food was probably good.

"I guess we're getting takeout" Lin mused, looking around the place. "Let's see the menu"

After looking through the menu, Lin and Tatsu just decided to order as much as they could with the money they had. 2500 credits Lin had brought and the 2000 credits Elma had given them, which let them get quite a bit of sushi. After they had made the order, the two were just standing around looking around the restaurant while waiting for their food.

"Look, Linley" Tatsu suddenly caught Lin's attention by tugging her sleeve while jumping on the chair he sat on. "Muscle man and secretary man eating here as well"

After quick look around Lin did indeed spot Vandham and Nagi sitting at a table in a somewhat secluded corner of the restaurant, apparently in the middle of a conversation.

"I told you friends go out to eat on this day, so it's not really surprising" she whispered to him, but unable to take her eyes of the two men. They were dressed in nice suits, and she could only guess it was because the restaurant was new and it was Valentine's Day, so the standards were a lot higher than on normal evenings.

"Look, secretary man eating muscle man's food!" Indeed, Nagi had just stolen what looked like a shrimp from Vandham's plate.

"I guess the Commander doesn't like shrimp" she shrugged it off, remembering how she always ate Elma's strawberries since she claimed she didn't like them.

"If Linly find something she not like in her food, Tatsu will be happy to eat it for her" Tatsu immediately offered, only making it sound like he would eat all of her food rather than just the part she didn't like.

"Yeah, I don't think so" Lin mumbled absentmindedly, still observing Vandham and Nagi. Vandham was babbling about something while his hand kept going down to his pocket to fidget with something, as if to make sure it was still there. Nagi on the other hand was smiling slightly, apparently finding Vandham's rambling rather amusing.

Her observations were cut short by their food arriving and Tatsu practically dragging her out so they could find somewhere to eat said food. It took them some time to find a bench that wasn't taken by some couple or some lonely drunk guy.

In the middle of the dinner, Lin suddenly spotted Lao, who was walking toward them with what appeared to be a box of chocolates in his hand.

"Hello, Lin" he greeted her quietly. "I was just heading to the barracks when I saw you here"

"Hello, Lao. What's with the chocolate?" Lin couldn't help asking. He looked down at the box in his hands and then back at Lin, as if he'd forgotten it was there.

"One of the pathfinders gave it to me, you know, since it's Valentine's Day and all…" he paused slightly, seemingly deep in thought, or maybe memories. He then suddenly shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts, before handing the box to Lin. "I'm not a big fan of chocolate, though. Would you like to take it off my hands so it doesn't go to waste?"

"Sure, thank you" Lin accepted the box, which proved to be more difficult than she thought with sushi takeout everywhere and Tatsu trying to snatch the chocolate out of her hand. Lao didn't seem to feel like talking anymore, since he was wandering off in another direction aimlessly.

"I hope he's okay" Lin voiced her thoughts while half-heartedly trying to stop Tatsu from devouring all the chocolates.

 **A/N: So, I kicked Lin and Tatsu out so Elma and Cross could have a romantic dinner. Which is never going to be shown, probably.**

 **I think I toned Tatsu down quite a bit from how he normally is in the game, partially on purpose. I really like the Nopon in Xenoblade Chronicles, but I'm much less of a fan of them in Xenoblade Chronicles X. I could go on a rant why, but I won't. I'm just going to say I was really disappointed we didn't get a playable Nopon in XCX, like we had Riki in XC. I hope they fix this in XC2. Also, Nopon are pacifist, my ass.**

 **I'm not really sure how much food costs in NLA, but in one side quest you buy some pizza and burgers and hot dogs for a Ma-non. I think the pizza cost about 1000 credits, the burger 700, and the hot dog 600. I think.**

 **I don't really eat sushi, so I don't really know much about it. Sorry.**

 **Also, Lao wasn't originally planned to appear in this story, but here he is anyway. Alone and depressed. Poor guy.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five, takes place sometime in November or so. Why? Just because.**

 **Brenna and Alan are NPCs in the Industrial District, they talk about their time on the White Whale, Vandham, and how awesome he is and how much they look up to him (Or at least Alan does)**

 **Review, and tell me what you think!**

Little moments 5: Living together

The meeting had been going on for quite a while now, with Nagi and Chausson in another argument about what's best for the people vs what's best for NLA. Brenna was starting to feel rather bored and just wished it would be over soon. Judging by Alan's look he felt exactly the same. Some people were actually paying attention to what was going on, some were pretending to, and some were imitating Commander Vandham, who had been slightly snoozing since the first argument started.

After what felt like forever, the meeting was finally over, and people were leaving. Brenna stretched in her chair, knowing she and Alan couldn't leave yet since they had to fix the latest reports about Skell maintenance. She watched as Nagi was the first to leave, nudging Vandham awake on the way before they both left together. Chausson was right behind them, in the middle of some discussion with two techs. The few other people who had been there were right behind.

Eleonora walked over to the two remaining people in the room, Brenna and Alan. She would collect their report and check it over before they would be allowed to go home for the night.

"All right, looks like everything is in order" she declared after some fifteen minutes of silent reading. "And we'll make sure to take these new ideas of yours into consideration."

Brenna sighed with relief, thankful the woman didn't seem to have anything else she would make them do, at least for the moment. She watched the woman walk over to her seat to put the reports in the folder alongside all the other papers she had. She turned around, ready to go home and get some well-earned rest, when…

"Would you look at that" Eleonora exclaimed suddenly. "Looks like the Commander forgot his papers in his hurry to get home" Well, the man could get them tomorrow, right?

"We can get them to him" Alan volunteered both of them, without asking her. Of course he did. The man adored Vandham, and would of course just jump at the chance to see how the Commander lived.

"That's very nice of you" Eleonora smiled sweetly, handing the stack of papers to Alan, who only now looked at her, silently asking if it was okay they took this little mission. Brenna just shrugged casually, it's not like it would take too long.

"So, where does he live? I assume he went home." She questioned Eleonora, who wrote down the address on a piece of paper she handed over to Alan.

"If you don't find the Commander, you can hand them to Nagi if you see him anywhere" Eleonora told them when she was sending them off. "And remind Vandham he really should return that book he borrowed from the library. It's almost two months overdue"

"All right…" Brenna muttered when they got out from the BLADE tower. "Why does she think we will see Nagi when we're going to see the Commander?"

"Maybe he lives nearby, or something?" Alan suggested casually, not really caring about it at all.

It didn't take them more than ten minutes or so to find Vandham's address, since he unsurprisingly lived in the Administrative District.

"Remember we're just handing over the papers and delivering the message, Alan." Brenna felt the need to remind him. "We're not going to gawk at his apartment or something like that."

"Yeah, yeah" came the answer. She could only hope he had actually heard her, as they knocked on the door in front of them. It opened after some ten seconds. It was not Vandham who stood at the now open door.

It was Nagi. It took a few moments for both Brenna and Alan to stop gawking at the man. Not just because he was at what they thought was Vandham's house, but because of his appearance.

His normally neat hair was wet and sticking up in every direction, like he just stepped out of the shower. He was wearing a black hoodie, sweatpants and he was barefoot. Brenna manged to see a thin, silvery chain around his neck, even though most of it was hidden beneath the hoodie. The look made him seem softer, more human than normally.

The only thing that hadn't changed were his sharp, dark eyes that were now focused on Brenna and Alan with a curious look.

"Was there something you wanted?" he asked, once he figured the two people standing at the door wouldn't say anything.

"Y-Yes, Sir" Brenna stammered after a couple of seconds. "We were sent to bring these papers to Commander Vandham." Alan held up the stack of papers to back up her explanation. Eleonora had said they could give them to Nagi, right?

"Is that so?" Nagi straightened up, smoothed over his hair with one hand and reached over to grab the papers from him. This gave Brenna and Alan a small view of some of the apartment.

There was a mixture of Nagi's clothes (all neatly folded on a chair) and Vandham's clothes (tossed around carelessly) in what seemed to be the living room. A small shelf was filled with what looked like a dozens of origami figures with some unintelligible scribblings all over them. A door leading to probably the bathroom was just an inch ajar, and the sound of the shower running could be heard.

"I'll make sure he gets them, don't worry" He raised his eyebrow when the two didn't seem to be leaving. "Was there something else?"

"Um… Eleonora wants him to return some book he's borrowed from the library?" Alan mumbled, managing to make it sound more like a question than a fact, and seemingly talking to the door rather than Nagi, who seemed rather amused at this new information.

"A book, huh?" He mused to himself. "I will let him know, thank you"

"All right. Good night, Sir" Brenna managed to salute the man before leaving, dragging Alan along with her. It was a good few blocks before either of them said a word, having had some time to think.

"What was that back there?" Alan suddenly wondered out loud, looking like he wasn't sure if he had just dreamt the whole thing up.

"Well, apparently the Secretary and the Commander live together" Brenna summed up. "It's not really that strange. There isn't enough room in NLA for everyone to have their own place, and everyone is sharing with at least one other person" She had come up with the explanation just recently, but it was true. That was why she was sharing a place with Alan and two other people who worked with them.

"Yeah, you're right" Alan admitted after calming down and thinking a bit. "It kind of surprised me to see the Secretary looking so… human, I guess?"

"You didn't expect him to live in that uniform, did you?"

"I guess not. I haven't really thought about it." Alan admitted. Well, it's not like Brenna had imagined what her superiors did outside of work, either. "Sometimes I think he's at work 24/7. He seemed the type"

"True" Brenna agreed, but had pretty much stopped thinking about it already. What her superiors did in their spare time was not really her business, after all.

"Want to grab some burgers before we head home?" Alan asked, as if sensing her mood.

"Yeah, let's get some burgers."

 **A/N: Like I said at the beginning, Alan and Brenna are NPCs who fanboy and fangirl over Vandham. Somehow they ended up pondering about Nagi instead but, whatever. I think they're part of like, one side quest, so I mostly made up their personalities. So, sorry if they're ooc to anyone reading this. It was quite interesting writing a chapter centred around some NPCs rather than main characters or more important people.**

 **I don't really know what the meeting was about, but it had something to do with people and NLA and technology and Skells and money, probably.**

 **Nagi and Chausson argue about things, that's even canon. I also like to think Nagi is not really used to not being the one in charge after being the captain of the White Whale, and then suddenly having Chausson there, also making decisions. This shows for example, when the party brings L to NLA, Nagi immediately says he can stay, and his asking Chausson was more like an afterthought, like "Oh, right. You're here as well and you also have a say in how things work here."**

 **Also, Vandham's book and the origami are going to get their explanation in another story. I don't think there is a library in NLA, but I'm going to pretend there is. So there it is now.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Final chapter… It's Christmas! Because I say so, don't ask.**

 **Again, please review and let me know what you think of this story.**

Little moments 6: Kiss

The first BLADE Christmas party was being held. It had been just over a year since the White Whale had landed (crashed) on Mira. Nearly everyone had agreed a good Christmas party was in order, the only person who needed persuasion was, to no-one's surprise, Chausson. Convincing him had taken most of BLADE, Nagi and Vandham. But they got to have their party, and that was the whole point.

The party was being held at the BLADE barracks. Lin had handled the food and snacks, while Elma and Cross had handled decorations. Tatsu had helped with the decorations, when he wasn't busy trying to steal something from the kitchen. Cody, Cross and Lin and Elma's silver tabby, was playing with the decorations, but settled down and went to sleep after getting fed.

All guests would also bring something, whether it was gifts or food or something else. Irina had brought alcohol, Gwin, Doug, Hope and Celica had brought some gifts, Alan and Brenna had gotten (or maybe even made) a stereo and speaker so they could play some Christmas music. Other BLADEs had brought various sorts of snacks or small gifts.

There were also some Nopon, Ma-non and even some Prone and Wrothians. Their gifts and foods were somewhat interesting. The Nopon brought some kind of trinkets, as well as some fruit and bugs for snacks (not live ones, thankfully). The Prone had brought some kind of indigen pieces, claiming they were very sought-after snacks among them (they were placed at a separate table). The Wrothians had brought gifts that seemed to be some kind of weapons, not that surprising from the proud warriors.

The Ma-non brought different kinds of pizza, as well as some little trinket they had invented themselves. Apparently someone had told them about the mistletoe tradition, since they had invented their own mistletoe that floated around, sometimes trapping people under it and not letting them go before they kissed. Other than that, there were also normal non-moving mistletoe hung up in a few places. Several people had already gotten caught underneath them.

Elma and Cross had already kissed several times under mistletoes, and even a few times without the mistletoe. Alan and Brenna had kissed once, before deciding not to ever do that again and under the next mistletoe just kissed each other lightly on the cheek. Doug had given Lin a gentle kiss on the forehead, and Lao had gotten one on the each cheek, one from Doug and one from Lin. Hope had given Celica a small kiss on the cheek, which Doug had watched somewhat jealously, until he got one as well.

Irina had gotten drunk, kissed Gwin and then fallen asleep on him on one of the couches, Gwin seemingly completely paralyzed. It was difficult to tell whether it was because of the kiss, or because he was afraid of what Irina would do when she woke up.

Everyone kept a safe distance from the Prone, Nopon, Wrothians and Ma-non, not daring to figure out what kissing one of them would be like. Some poor BLADE had gotten jumped by a Wrothian female. He was still picking cat hair from his mouth. Boze' was keeping as far from all the Xeno's as he could, without being called out as rude, and kept glancing at them while talking with Reggie.

Suddenly the door banged open and Commander Vandham strode in, wearing a bright red-and-green Christmas sweater. "Sorry we're late!" he greeted the people closest to him, Cross and Elma, while most people gawking at him, probably not expecting him to show up. "Nagi forced me to finish a bunch of paperwork before we could leave!" he continued, motioning at the door.

People now fixated their looks at the door where the Secretary of Defence was standing. He was wearing a dark green jacket over a white shirt, more Christmas-party-ish than his normal uniform, but still rather formal. He was half-glaring at Vandham's back.

"You shouldn't complain, Jack. I did _at least_ half of that paperwork, even though you _should_ handle it yourself" he almost-grumbled before walking up to the other man.

People were somewhat getting over the surprise at seeing their superiors arriving at the party, and were slowly getting back to what they were doing. Nagi and Vandham made their way over to the bar/kitchen to get some drinks and snacks. They ended up sitting at the bar-table, back-to-back, each talking to some other person. Nagi seemed to be casually doing shots with Frye and a somewhat reluctant Phog, who was having juice. Vandham was babbling on about something or other with Lin and Doug, while sipping a beer. Tatsu was asleep on a chair next to Lin, snoring slightly, more than a bit drunk. Cody had at some point found his way to the bar and was quite content after getting Nagi to absentmindedly pet him.

Suddenly everyone stopped again, their attention once again on the two newly-arrived men. Some were whispering amongst themselves and Lara Mara whispered something to Brenna, who whispered something to Eleonora, who whispered something back to them, before all tree shook hands with each other.

When the two were trying to figure out what got everyone so interested, Elma subtly caught their attention and pointed at something above them. A quick look revealed it to be the floating Ma-non made mistletoe. Nagi muttered something sounding like "seriously?" before Vandham grabbed him around the waist and pulled him in for a kiss. Nagi barely seemed surprised and kissed him back almost instantly, reaching an arm around Vandham's neck to lightly caress the short hair.

Now people were staring very openly, mostly in surprise. Lara Mara and Brenna both handed some credits to Eleonora, who was smiling somewhat smugly. Lin startled so badly she knocked Tatsu down from his chair, surprisingly not waking him up. Elma and Cross made their way over to her and lifted the Nopon back in a chair.

Once the two men finally finished kissing they turned to see the entire party staring at them. "The hell are you all staring at?" Vandham demanded, still holding one arm around Nagi's waist. Matching golden rings, probably made from re-forged Miranium, glinted on their ring fingers.

"OH!" Lin was the first to come to a realization, loudly. "How long have you guys been together?" People were now also starting to notice, some loudly wondering how they could've missed it.

"Since, way back on earth" Vandham answered slowly, like he thought it was a trick question or something. Suddenly it seemed to be his turn to come to a realization, that practically no-one had known anything.

"Almost four years" Nagi chimed in, looking as calm as ever, sipping on what was probably his seventh shot, grabbing some chips for himself while at it.

"And the rings?" Lin asked carefully, like she was afraid Vandham would start yelling at any moment.

"Valentine's Day" Vandham puffed up his chest, looking very proud of himself. "Yeah, I know, cheesy as hell" he admitted when he saw her look. "But apparently very effective" he quickly added, when he saw Nagi glaring at him. The glare quickly disappeared after his added comment and was replaced by a small smile.

"Yes, very effective" Nagi confirmed, shooing away Cody, who was not happy about being ignored and was trying to get to his chips.

Vandham gave him a smile and a small kiss in return, before addressing the people still gawking at them. "The hell are you all staring at!? Move along, people!" The crowd quickly scattered, going back to whatever they were doing before the interruptions. There was still some whispering, barely audible and very ignorable. "I can't believe none of them noticed anything" he grumbled to Nagi. "It's not like we were hiding or anything"

"Well, they're not detectives" Nagi mumbled over the rim of his glass. "If it makes you feel better, I think a few of them noticed, but didn't tell anyone. And Elma knew, but doesn't really care either way" he added when he saw Vandham's look.

"Well, now they all know, so maybe next time I want to kiss you, they won't all stand and stare" he grumbled, somewhat annoyed over having to explain his relationship to some forty people, because they had been unobservant and not noticed anything.

"Well, now they all know, so take it easy and try to enjoy the party, will you?" Nagi suggested while prying Vangham's arm from around his waist and pressed a new beer into it. Vandham looked at the man with some humour in his eyes.

"Telling me to relax and enjoy myself? Doesn't sound like you" he teased Nagi, gently stroking the back of the other man's hand with the one that wasn't holding the beer.

"And getting bothered by other people doesn't sound like you" Nagi retorted, turning his hand and casually lacing their fingers together. The rest of the evening was spent talking with people, drinking and eating some snacks. Toward the end of the party, presents were handed out to everyone before they left.

They never let go of each other's hands during the entire rest of the evening.

 **A/N: So, that was the final chapter. Hope you liked it!**

 **I have been at a few Christmas parties, so some things in this story was from there. Like the part where people bring anonymous gifts which are gifted randomly so no-one knows who gets what gift.**

 **The characters are from the previous chapters as well as a few recruitable party members. Apparently I really like pairing them together. Make of that what you will.**

 **Nagi doing shots with Frye is something from their end-battle dialogues. Apparently he can also be bribed with Sake, so I can imagine he has pretty good alcohol tolerance.**

 **We don't have the kissing under the mistletoe in Finland, so I just improvised that.**

 **Speaking of things I improvised, people in love. No experience of that. Other than movies and tv-shows and books and fanfiction, that is. Nothing in real life, though.**

 **Also, if anyone didn't figure it out, some of the chapters are kinda connected (except chapter 1. That's just a chapter). In chapter 2, Vandham and Nagi are trying to find a restaurant to eat at on Valentine's Day, in chapter 3 Vandham asks Nagi to go with him to the new sushi restaurant (the building of which he may or may not have had something to do with), in chapter 4 they are at said restaurant and this is where Vandham proposes. The reason nobody ever noticed their rings is because they wear them on thin chains around their necks, which we see briefly in chapter 4 (reason is because the rings would so easily get dirty or lost or damaged at work. And yes, the rings are made from Miranium, because as far as I can tell, it's used in everything except, like, pizza. These people must have the ability of the people in the original XC, where they can make anything from anything. Seriously, they make ink from meat and armour from fish scales.)**

 **Cody is a silver tabby and one of the cats one can choose to keep as a pet. I just gave him a name. He is going to appear in a story or two that I have somewhat planned out, so there's at least a couple more stories to look forward to!**


End file.
